Accessibility and Disability Studies

Here is timeline of progress in the growth of Accessibility and Disability Studies at Central Washington University:

Spring 2016: The inspiration for the program was sparked by Humberto Avila, a blind student in Dr. Petersen’s course in Educational Assessment.

Summer 2016: The program was designed in consultation with a broadly representative steering committee, including Wendy Holden, Director of Disability Services.

February  2017: CWU approves the Accessibility Studies Program with unanimous support in the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee.

Spring 2017: First Course offered ASP 305 Accessibility & User Experience, taught by Naomi Petersen.

May 2017: Diversability Day celebrates the launch of the program at the CWU Museum of Culture and Environment.

Summer 2017: First offering of all core courses, with the first cohort of students completing the undergraduate minor. The faculty (Naomi Petersen, Josh Welsh, Maria Waters) worked collaboratively to design and align the courses for an integrated term with accurate predictions of time expected of students to complete all evidence of learning outcomes. The comprehensive exam was composed of several items for each learning outcome of each course.

May 2018: ASP participates for the first time in SOURCE, the Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression. Several students present individually, but a panel of six is moderated by Dr. Petersen.  

Fall 2018: 184 First Year Experience taught for the first time with a theme of media representation of disability. It will be taught by Victoria Flanagan.

Summer 2019: ASP 498 Special Topic Media Representations of Disability offered for the first time.

Fall 2019: Washington State adopts It Policy 188, [link chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://media.esd.wa.gov/esdwa/Default/ESDWAGOV/newsroom/equal-opportunity/ndp/5b-3-188-accessibility-ocio.pdf]establishing “the expectation for state agencies that people with disabilities have access to and use of information and data and be provided access to the same services and content that is available to persons without disabilities unless providing direct access is not possible due to technical or legal limitations.” Dr. Petersen works with the team implementing to survey the perceptions of what an accessibility coordinator is expected to know and do. She presents at the state-side training conference about the new Accessibility Studies Program.

Fall 2020: Graduate Certificate in Accessibility Studies is approved with layered courses. The first graduates are Dr. Amanda Rosenzweig and Lynn Swedberg, who become faculty for the program.

Fall 2020: Accessibility Studies Club begins.

Fall 2022: ASP 475 Research Methods offered for the first time.

Summer 2023: ASP 420/520 Universal Design for Learning taught for the first time by Dr. Rebecca Cory.

Fall 2023: ASP 425 Universal Design (5 cr) replaces ASP 325 (4 cr). Total credits for the programs changed. 410/510 Current Issues in Accessibility & Disability offered for the first time by Dr. Naomi Jeffery Petersen. The 1-credit seminar will be offered every quarter Fall – Spring with a rotation of topics beginning with Intersectionality. ASP 498/598 replaced by ASP 452/552 Media Representations of Disability, cross-listed with Communications. A Memorandum of Understanding clarifies the expertise required for any instructor to teach it.

Fall 2024: Name change to Accessibility & Disability Studies. A new website is launched as well as a new advising database.

Winter 2025: ASP 440/540 Accessibility, Disability & Social Justice is taught for the first time by Dr. Cynthia Pengilly.

Here is a brief history of disability advocacy accomplishments in the US and Washington.

1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights

1954 Brown v. Topeka

1964 Civil Rights Act

1965 ESEA Elementary and Secondary Education Act

1968 Architectural Barriers Act

1973 Rehabilitation Act

1975 Public Law 94-174

1986 Air Carrier Access Act

1990 ADA Americans with Disabilities Act

1997 IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

2006 UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2010 WA Respectful Language Act (RCW 44.04.280)

2019 WA State Chief Information Office Policy 188

2023 WA End of subminimum wage certificates

2024 CWU Accessibility & Disability Studies Name Change